Catamenial pad



April 27, 1937. R. WILLIAMS CATAMENIAL PAD Filed Feb. 8, 1928 Ba 0mm i. 1

ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 27, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CATAMENIAL ran Harrison R. Williams, Glens Falls, N; '1. Application February 3, 1028, Serial No. 252,721

6 Claims.

This invention relates to catamenial pads or bandages and has for its objectto provide a pad composed of'a multiplicity of loosely felted layers of highly absorbent'material, which layers have the edges thereof sealed together by interlocking of their fibers. p

A further obje'ct of the invention is to provide a pad of the kind referred to in which the end portions of the pad are made thin by the application of a light pressure thereto, the portion between the ends being left uncompressed, so that the ends of the pad may fit closely against the body of the wearer and will not bulge the garments.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawing forming part of this specification:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a pad embodying features of the present invention, a portion of the gauze wrapping being shown unfolded;

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the pad showing, indot and dash line, the web of material from which the pad is formed;

Figure '3 is a side elevation of the pad;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary elevation, partly broken away; and

Figure 5 is an elevation showing the pad material before it has been compressed to form a sealed edge.

I As shown in Fig. 5, the pad, material consists of a multiplicity of thin crinkled layers or sheets I of loosely felted fibers such as cellulose fibers .of the thinnest and most tenuous material that can be manufactured. This material is soft and highly absorbent, and a pad ofthe material can be readily disintegrated by water when itvhas served its purpose.

Pads of the prior art, constructed of .thls material, have been out along the sides thereof by revolving knives operated in a manner to effect web by means of a die and a pressure member coacting therewith, the edges of all of the layers I of the pad may be compressed together to form a sealed edge 2 as shown in Fig. 4. Owing to the loose character of the felting of the fibers of the individual sheets, and to the fact that the individual sheets are uncalendered, the applica- '5 tion of the cutting pressure is effective to interlock the fibers of the several layers I and thereby to unite the layers to form the sealed edge 2, and this without resorting to the objectionabl practice of using adhesive. The cutting of the pad may be effected by the direct application of pressure simultaneously around the entire edge of the pad. But preferably, in order to avoid the high pressure required for cutting by this method, and to avoid possible compacting of the body 1.;

the length of the pad so that the cutting progresses along the edges. In this way a progressive out, rather than a direct shear cut, is effected. The sheet material is crinkled, or corrugated, the corrugation extending longitudinally of the pad so that the pressing down of the side edges of the outer layers of the pad results only in a slight flattening out of the corrugations and does not cause such layers to be put under any substantial tension. The inner films or sheets of the pad thus formed are pressed together slightly adjacent the cut edges and, due to their elasticity they cause the pad to bulge out slightly above and below the sealed edge. Shallow reentrant angles are thus formed along the sides of the pad with the sealed edges at the vertices thereof. The sealed edge is therefore held out of ontact with the body of the wearer.

The provision of the sealed edges, as described produces several important advantages over the v pads of the priorart, besides those already mentioned. In such prior pads the longitudinal edges of the plies are uncompactedand unconnected. These raw edges, which of necessity press against the body of the wearer, areas highly absorbent as any portion of the pad, and permit of rapid vaporization of the vaporizable content of the deposited fiuid,. both because of the relatively large surface area of such edges exposed to the air, and because the edges are directly exposed As a consequence, the formato the body heat. tion of a hard, irritating, caked or granular deposit in the raw edges of such pads is unavoidable. This involves serious discomfort, because of the chafing produced by such hardened raw edges.

In such prior pads, the several plies of which the pads are formed extend parallel to one another-throughout their widths. Due to this fact and to the further fact that no' provision is made 5 for securing the plies to one another, thepads do not adapt themselves to, nor admit of, transverse distortion in use otherwise than by bending them convexly upward in their entirety and throughout their entire lengths. Such flexure or bending necessarily imparts a pronounced longitudinal rigidity to the pad, which opposes the folding upward of the ends into conformity to the body. Objectionable bulging of the garments of the wearer necessarily results. Securement of the pad immovably in place is also rendered awkward and diflicult.

v In the improved pad herein disclosed, on the other hand, the act of forming the sealed edges intermediate the top and bottom of the pad causes the plies above the sealed edges to become upwardly convex and the plies below the sealed edges to become downwardly convex. As a consequence, pressure applied to the opposite side edges of. the pad urging such edges toward oneanother causes the upwardly convex plies to bulge upward and the downwardly convex plies to bulge downward, so that a separation of the plies is efiected about midway of the height of the pad, except at the edge portions thereof. Objection- 30 able longitudinal stiffening of the pad is avdided, both because of the fact that about half of the material, the lower half, is bulged downward, and because the longitudinal edges are drawn together and turned inward where sealed so that the edge portions are rendered pliable. The end portions, therefore, may be turned upward, as desired, to fit snugly and comfortably against the body. As has been pointed out, a slight re-entrant 40 angle is formed at each of the sealed edges, so that the sealed edges do not come into contact with the body. There is relatively little tendency of the fluid to penetrate the sealed edges, owing to the compacting of the material at such edges. 45 The edges, moreover, do not offer a large superficial area in proportion to their volume, and do not, therefore, conduce to rapid vaporization of the vaporizable content of the fluid. The objece tionable tendency to produce hardened chafing 50 areas in contact with the body at the edges of the plies is, therefore, eliminated.

The width of the web from which the pads are cut is equal. to the length of a finished pad so that the ends of the pad do not require to be cut. 55 The ends are accordingly unsealed. This is not a drawback, however, for the reason that the ends are upturned in use so that there is little or no danger that powder, if present in the'pad, will spill out at the ends. 60 It is desirable to taper the thickness of the pad at the ends 3 thereof as best indicated in Fig." 3 of the drawing, so that the ends will not cause the garments of the wearer to bulge ob jectionably. To this end the web of material, 65 prior to the severance of the individual pads therefrom, may be passed between rollers of suitable configuration to compress the material slightly at the margins of the Web so that it will be shaped in cross-section like the pad shown in 70 Fig. 3. Owing to the extreme softness and looseness of the material, a compacting of this degree does not render the ends of the pad hard or uncomfortable to the wearer, but does reduce the dimensions at the ends. The pressing of the pads thin at the ends has the advantage that powder contained in the pad is prevented at all times from spilling out at the unsealed ends.

,When the pad has been rolled and cut in the manner described it is enfolded in the usual gauze wrapping 4.

While I have illustrated and described in detail certain preferred forms of my invention, it is to be understood that changes may be made therein and the invention embodied in other structures. I do not, therefore, desire to limit myself to the specific construction illustrated, but intend to cover my invention broadly in whatever form its principle may be utilized.

I claim:

1. A catamenial pad comprising a multiplicity of sheets of loosely felted fibers, said pad being compressed at the ends thereof to form tapering ends, and being uncompressed intermediate the ends.

2. An absorbent pad comprising a. multiplicity of sheets of loosely felted fibers, said sheets being compressed and mechanically united along the longitudinal edges to form sealed edges between the top and bottom of the pad, said sealed edges lying at the vertices of reentrant angles formed by the-side surfaces of the pad, and therefore in position to be maintained out of contact with the body of the wearer.

3. A catamenial -pad having a body portion and a pair of tapered end portions and comprising a multiplicity of sheets of loosely felted fibres extending throughout said portions, the body portion being substantially uncompressed through out its length, and the end portions being compressed so that the extreme ends of said end portions are of substantially less thickness than the body portion, parts of the end portions being compacted to interlock the fibrous components in hard, retentive formation, but the extreme ends of the end portions being compressed only to a degree insufficient to render them hard or uncomfortable to the wearer,

4. A catamenial pad having a body portion and a pair of tapered end portions, and comprising a multiplicity of sheets of loosely felted fibres extending throughout said portions, the body portion being substantially uncompressed throughout its length, and the end portions being compressed to a degree sufficient to make the extreme ends of said portions substantially thinner than the body portion, but insufiicient to render them hard or uncomfortable to a wearer.

5. A catamenial pad comprising a multiplicity of sheets of loosely felted fibres, said padbeing compressed at an end thereof to form a tapering end, and being uncompressed intermediate its ends.

6. A catamenial pad having a body portion and a pair of end portions and comprising a multiplicity of sheets of loosely felted fibres extending throughout said portions, the body portion being substantiallyuncompressed throughout its length, and an end portion being tapered and compressed to a degree sufiicient to make the extreme end of said portion substantially thinner than the body portion, but insuificient to render it hard or uncomfortable to a wearer.

HARRISON R. WILLIAMS. 

